What I'm Up To...

Some sock knitting and Lauren Dukoff's Family

Working and knitting and picture-taking...

Wool and the Gang

If I lived in New York, I'd be hanging out at Wool and the Gang, a super cool shop that sells knitting kits, yarn, and readymade knitwear. Lucky for me they also have an online shop. My favorite kit? Over My Shoulder (pictured below). Too cute!



Reminded about WATG by Camp Comfort

Kind of Ridiculous

Uuumm, so technically I finished this shawl last winter, but I'm just now getting around to weaving in the ends and blocking it. Kind of ridiculous, non? After finishing miles and miles of garter stitch, I think I was just sick of looking at it. As much as I like garter stitch, it can be mind-numbingly boring to knit. Anyhoo, it's all done now and I'm happy to add it to my winter wardrobe!

Pattern: Wool Peddlar's Shawl by Cheryl Oberle with mustaavilla's garter ruffle modification
Yarn: Rowan felted tweed in wheat (main) and caramel (accent)
Needles: Size 6

Gearin' Up the Sweater Factory

Top Photo: Last fall's Ophicleide cardigan.

Bottom Photo: Last winter's Owls sweater, which I actually never wore because it didn't get cold enough in Virginia last winter. Lesson learned: No more super-thick wooly yarn for as long as I live in the south.

As I am quite capable of making my own sweaters, I have a really hard time spending precious yarn money on mass-produced sweaters. Over the past few years, the only sweaters I've bought have been lightweight cardigans with stitches so tiny that I would either need a knitting machine or lots and lots of focus and patience and free time to make. Those I can justify buying. Anything that could be relatively easily handknit, though, I have to make.

It's way too hot in Charlottesville right now to get too excited about curling up on the sofa with a ball of yarn, but I've got some ideas bubbling around. These three lovelies are currently at the top of my must-knit list:

Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolda
Humanoid, Take Two by Ellybeth
Jenny's Birthday Sweater by Ellybeth

P.S. Speaking of making things, I made a vase in ceramics class on Tuesday that I'm quite excited about. If it turns out okay after firing and glazing, I'll definitely share some pics.

Done!

I survived the nupps! OK, now that that knitting obsession is out of my system, we can now return to shopping, inspiration, etc.

Found It!

After cursing and sighing my way through a few more rows of nupps, I sifted through my e-mail for the Knitting Daily video. Turns out I need to make my nupps looser.

I still knit...

Me and the Swallowtail nupps just haven't been getting along very well. What are nupps, you ask? They are little lace torture devices that can give even the most nimble knitter fumbly fingers and make her want to give up knitting once and for all (or maybe it's just me). And I'm not exaggerating. Every time I approach a nupp, I let out an audible sigh. I hate them. I suppose I could do something about it. I do recall getting a video on knitting nupps from Knitting Daily some months back. Maybe that would help, but I can't be bothered to sift through my Inbox to find it.

Hhhmm, this turned out to be a very grumpy post. I didn't mean for it to be. I've actually caught some momentum, and I think I might actually finish this shawl fairly soon without banishing it to the bin under my bed again...fingers crossed...

My feet are cold...

So I'm knitting some socks, some lovely golden socks. I somehow ended up with one less sole stitch than I'm supposed to have, and the perfectionist in me wants to rip this back and start all over, but it fits OK as it is and it's not a gift, so I'm soldiering on (even though I keep thinking about that pesky missing stitch). Eventually the lattice stitch will go around the leg of the sock, so I'll have to pick up a stitch somewhere...not sure where yet. Living dangerously for once...

Pattern: Leyburn Socks
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug Vincent's Apron

Handmade gifts for my girls!

Every year I get together with two very dear friends a week or two before Christmas so that we can celebrate together while we're all still in town. This past Saturday we gathered at Keswick Hall for an afternoon tea and gift exchange, and it was really lovely. Keswick is our gathering place of choice for birthdays and such, but this was the first time we'd been there for the holidays. It was beautifully decorated for the season, so lovely and cozy (and we were even offered hot cocoa for the road)!

I received some truly lovely gifts from my girls. I feel so lucky to have friends who know me so well. And I hope they are just as pleased with the gifts I gave to them. Pictured above are the gifts I made for them. The gift up top is a hand braided scarf made from Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Naturals in Silvermink. I used ah-yi's wonderful instructions. The gift on the bottom is a hat made from Canopy Sport yarn by The Fibre Company. The wonderful pattern by Kate Gagnon is available here.

Toasted

My first knit of the season is now complete! Simple and cozy, these will be getting a lot of wear. I've been up to a few more projects over the past few days, but I can't share them here just yet because they're Christmas gifts.

Details:

Pattern: Toast
Yarn: Himalaya Shokay Yarn in Earth
Needles: Size 7 DPNs

Still Here

Wow, I've been away from this space for a very long time. My excuse? Politics. I've been completely obsessed. But now that the election is over, I'm finally getting back to life as it was before.

As you can see from the photo above, I've been doing a little knitting lately. This project, the Toast arm warmers by Leslie Friend, was the perfect warm-up project to get me ready for a long list of Christmas knits. I'm close to done. Will post another photo when they're complete.